Many books deal with New Mexico's past, but the twelve original essays here reinterpret that history for the first time from a Chicano perspective. Self-determination, resistance, and cultural maintenance are the recurring themes in the lives and struggles of Nuevomexicanos from 1848 to the present. On a more fundamental level, the clash has been over modernisation -- how the Spanish language, folk traditions, and land grants can survive as a heritage for future generations amid English, new and secular values, and real estate booms and speculation. Nuevomexicanos have confronted colonialism, ethnocentrism, and racism throughout their history. But as these essays make clear, pride in Spanish descent runs deep in New Mexico and has led to a vibrancy unmatched in any other region in the United States. Nuevomexicanos have not simply survived or endured. They have secured their influence through the highest level of education among all Chicanos in the United States, through greater political representation at the local and national level-and in both major parties-than in any other state, and through a culture that has simultaneously resisted and adapted to change.
Erlinda Gonzales-Berry and David R Maciel, Editors
a"Contested Homeland" will make an excellent and much-needed college textbook for teaching history from a Chicano perspective.a aWhile presenting thought-provoking challenges to traditional history, the book provides a historical overview of Hispanic Mexican Americans in New Mexico, "Nuevomexicanos." . . . As the authors point to the unique cultural identity of the "Nuevomexicanos . . ." Maciel and Gonzales-Berry have taken one more step to rightfully place the history of the "Nuevomexicanos" where it belongs: in the history of the U.S.a While presenting thought-provoking challenges to traditional history, the book provides a historical overview of Hispanic Mexican Americans in New Mexico, "Nuevomexicanos." . . . As the authors point to the unique cultural identity of the "Nuevomexicanos . . ." Maciel and Gonzales-Berry have taken one more step to rightfully place the history of the "Nuevomexicanos" where it belongs: in the history of the U.S. ""The Contested Homeland" tells, in bits and pieces, an intriguing story." "Contested Homeland" will make an excellent and much-needed college textbook for teaching history from a Chicano perspective. "While presenting thought-provoking challenges to traditional history, the book provides a historical overview of Hispanic Mexican Americans in New Mexico, "Nuevomexicanos. . . . As the authors point to the unique cultural identity of the "Nuevomexicanos . . . Maciel and Gonzales-Berry have taken one more step to rightfully place the history of the "Nuevomexicanos where it belongs: in the history of the U.S."
